Overview
- House Energy and Commerce lawmakers on Tuesday examined the App Store Accountability Act alongside roughly 17–19 other children’s online safety measures.
- The ASA would require app stores to verify a user’s age, transmit an age signal to apps at download, link minors’ accounts to a parent for consent, and undergo annual compliance certifications.
- Pinterest publicly endorsed the bill as a one-stop, privacy-preserving approach, with Meta, Snap, and X expressing support for the model, while Apple and Google raised concerns about expanded data sharing and privacy risks.
- Legal uncertainty looms as a Texas app‑store age law faces court challenges, and although the Supreme Court upheld age checks for pornography sites, it has not ruled on broad app‑store mandates.
- Debate in the hearing highlighted privacy and security risks, potential workarounds seen in the UK’s Online Safety Act, and divisions over federal preemption versus letting states set stronger protections.